Rescuing your server

This page will help you fix your Bytemark dedicated host, assuming it is running a Linux-based OS. We assume you’ve been able to follow the instructions on how to boot your server over the network or boot your VM in rescue mode .

Mount your drives

If you have a dedicated server, the first thing you will want to do is type:

 mountall

which will assemble your normal filesystem on /target.

Virtual machine customers should type:

 mount / -o rw,remount

to be able to change files as normal.

You are then free to edit any files, which may be all you need to do to fix your problem. If that’s all you need, just type reboot when you’re done and wait for your system to boot up normally.

Start your networking (virtual machines)

If you have a virtual machine and need to get files on or off the rescued system, you may want to start your networking with:

 ifup eth0

Copying files on and off

If you need to copy files on or off your server, you should start an SSH server:

 /etc/init.d/ssh start

On a dedicated server you should also set a root password with passwd (this does not affect your normal root password) and be prepared to click through a host-key warning when you connect.

You can then use SCP or SFTP to copy files on and off the server as root – the server should have its normal IP address.

Jumping into your system

On a dedicated server, if you need to run programs on your real filesystem, type:

 chroot /target

which will leave you at a prompt “inside” your normal system. You can use this to re-run lilo or grub. When you’re finished, you will probably need to type exit before you can issue the reboot command.

This step isn’t necessary for virtual machine customers.

Changing your root password

Probably the most common operation that you can do is resetting your root password. While inside the system you can just run:

 passwd

and set yourself a new root password.